Hockey Handicapping Articles

2016 Chicago Blackhawks Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/5/2016

The Chicago Blackhawks have been the NHL's most successful franchise the past several years with Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015. In last year's quest for a championship repeat, Chicago finished the regular season third in the Western Conference (47-26-9, 103 Pts) before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the higher-seeded St. Louis Blues in a seven-game slugfest.

2016 Washington Capitals Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/5/2016

2015-16 was a banner season for the Washington Capitals-right up until the playoffs. The Capitals finished the regular season with easily (56-18-8, 120 Pts) the league's best record to add a President's Trophy to the collection, Barry Trotz won the Jack Adams Award as best coach and Braden Holtby took home the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie.

2016 Tampa Bay Lightning Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/5/2016

The time is now for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After reaching the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago and getting knocked out in the Eastern Conference finals last season, this is now a battle-tested unit still at the peak of its powers. Oddsmakers seem to agree. At 10-1, the Lightning are the co-second choice to win the Stanley Cup.

2016 San Jose Sharks Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/5/2016

The San Jose Sharks broke through their most immediate glass ceiling when finally reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2016 after years of playoff heartbreak. The Sharks, which this decade have twice lost in the conference finals and also coughed up a 3-0 series lead in the first round as a No. 2 seed in 2014, finally shed the under-achieving label with hard-fought win in six games over the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference finals. San Jose fell to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals 4-2.

2016 Los Angeles Kings Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/5/2016

Los Angeles appears to be a team in transition. Its two Stanley Cup-winning teams were big, powerful and outright imposing. That is still the case to some extent with its championship-winning core of Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty, Selke and Lady Byng winner Anze Kopitar, and All-Star goalie Jonathan Quick. But now Los Angeles is looking to instill more speed to its attack with fast-paced youngsters like Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson.

2016 Pittsburgh Penguins Expert Predictions with NHL Futures Betting Odds
by Victor Ryan - 10/4/2016

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins had little turnover to their roster this offseason. The only notable departures from last year's team, which provided Pittsburgh its first Stanley Cup since the 2008-09 season, were veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy and backup goalkeeper Jeff Zatkoff (4-7, 2.79 GA). The loss of the productive Lovejoy would seem a hit, but coach Mike Sullivan has tabbed 2012 eighth-overall pick Derrick Pouliot as ready for action. Other than that, this is virtually the same team as a season ago.

NHL Futures Odds: Point Totals for New Season Released by Sportsbooks
by Alan Harris - 9/14/2016

Over the last two days, we took a look at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey that gets underway this weekend in Toronto, and now we have some more NHL odds to sink our teeth into before the season starts in early October. Our friends over at The Westgate Superbook have released their point totals for all 30 NHL teams, and they are listed below. We haven't dug too deep into these as we've been working on the World Cup, but we will get to them shortly and have a couple of free plays for you down the road.

2016 World Cup of Hockey Odds and Expert Betting Predictions Part 2
by Alan Harris - 9/13/2016

Yesterday we previewed the eight teams that will compete in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and at the end of our preview, we promised our futures pick on the team that we have played to win the tournament. So without further adieu, here is our prediction.

2016 World Cup of Hockey Odds and Expert Betting Predictions Part 1
by Alan Harris - 9/12/2016

The World Cup of Hockey has started exhibition games before the official start of the tournament so the players can get their legs under them before the round-robin stage gets under way on Sept. 17. The tournament, as usual, will feature eight teams, but there is a big difference in this edition compared to others.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 5/9/2016

Just one team entering Monday has reached the conference finals, and it's a club I didn't think would get there without two of its best players in center and captain Steven Stamkos and defenseman Anton Stralman: the Tampa Bay Lightning.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 5/2/2016

The Pittsburgh Penguins have overtaken the Washington Capitals as Bovada Eastern Conference favorites, with the Pens at +140 and Caps at +150 entering Monday's Game 3 of their tied series in the Steel City. Both are +375 to win the Stanley Cup.

Free NHL Picks: St. Louis Blues vs. Dallas Stars Second Round Preview
by Chris Vasile - 4/28/2016

St. Louis is definitely the more experienced team that has been down this road before. This year they finally managed to make it out of the first round and exercised some demons. It was a gruelling seven-game battle with Chicago, which could come back to haunt them in the second round.

Free NHL Picks: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals Second Round Preview
by Chris Vasile - 4/27/2016

No matter the sport, there will always be a pair of players seemingly intertwined and compared on a daily basis. Whether it was Magic and Bird or Kobe and LeBron in the NBA or Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa in the MLB or even Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the NFL… The NHL is no different. It has been Crosby and Ovechkin since the start of the 21st century. And after a seven-year wait the media-built rivalry takes center stage in Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs.

Free NHL Picks: New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Second Round Preview
by Chris Vasile - 4/26/2016

As the NHL gets set to kick off the second round of playoff action, the two teams who were almost certainly picked to lose their first-round matchup will get the chance to do battle for a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/25/2016

Somewhat tough to scout the week ahead because the NHL hasn't yet announced the schedule for the conference semifinal round of the playoffs. In the West, Dallas has advanced after taking out Minnesota in six games. That one was an easy call. I didn't expect to see San Jose eliminate the Los Angeles Kings, but the Sharks did so in five games. That had to be sweet redemption for San Jose after blowing a 3-0 series lead against L.A. in 2014.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/18/2016

In my opinion, the big winner of the first week of the Stanley Cup playoffs was the Western Conference top-seeded Dallas Stars. The big loser? The greater Los Angeles area. I didn't give the Stars a great chance of winning the West because while it's a fabulous offensive team, Dallas wasn't great on defense during the regular season. But with has happened to the two L.A. teams thus far, now I'm rethinking that.

NHL Playoffs Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 4/13/2016

There is nothing better than playoff hockey in the NHL, and starting this Wednesday night with the Game 1 action in the Conference Quarterfinals there will be eight best-of-seven series on the betting board that could go either way no matter what the regular-season records or the current betting odds say.

NHL Playoffs Betting Picks: Series Underdogs Worth a Wager
by Trevor Whenham - 4/12/2016

The first round of the NHL Playoffs are set. As a Canadian I can't help being a little sad that no teams from my country are represented, but sadly that just means that the hockey will be better this year - we invented hockey, but our teams are all terrible at it. Without the Canuck influence, what we have are eight pretty compelling playoff series - or, more accurately, seven compelling series and Nashville and Anaheim.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/11/2016

Certainly the top storyline has to involve the Chicago Blackhawks, the team of the decade. Chicago has won three Stanley Cups in the past six seasons but has yet to repeat. The last team to go back-to-back was the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 & '98. These Hawks don't look as good as last year's club, but if any team knows how to flip a switch, it's this one. Patrick Kane finished with an NHL-high and career-best 106 points to become the first American-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer.

NHL Hockey Odds and Picks: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 4/4/2016

Rather hard to imagine already, but it's the final week of the NHL's regular season. And if you happen to be living north of the border or are a fan of a Canadian hockey team, well, sucks for you. That's because all seven teams from that country will miss the playoffs. It's the first time since 1970 that no Canadian team will compete for Lord Stanley's Cup. Back then, the only Canadian teams in the 12-team league were Montreal and Toronto, two of the Original Six franchises.